Fruit-hunter
Chlamydochaera jefferyi
Handsome and unmistakable thrush. Male is gray overall, whereas female is suffused with rusty cinnamon-brown. On both sexes, note prominent black bib, slender black mask which wraps around the back of the head, and black wingtips. Endemic to Borneo’s highlands, where it wanders nomadically through submontane and montane forests in search of fruiting trees. Often encountered in pairs or small groups, foraging at middle and lower storeys of forest. Generally quiet; gives high thin “tsiiiii.”
Identification
The fruithunter or fruit-hunter (Chlamydochaera jefferyi), also known as the black-breasted fruit-hunter, is an enigmatic species of bird currently placed with the typical thrushes in the family Turdidae. It is native to the Borneo montane rain forests. It is highly distinct from other thrushes, instead being convergent to Corvoidea such as trillers (Lalage) or true orioles (Oriolus). Thus it is placed in a monotypic genus Chlamydochaera. It was formerly called the black-breasted triller and placed within the family Campephagidae. Its breeding biology has only been recently detailed. The female fruithunter broods and incubates the two eggs that are laid, and the male assists in feeding the nestlings. The fruithunter is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. This species was first described in 1887 by Richard Bowdler Sharpe based on specimens of a male and female collected on Mount Kinabalu.
Taxonomy
Genus: Chlamydochaera; Family: Turdidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Chlamydochaera jefferyi
- Authority
- Sharpe, 1887
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Turdidae
- Genus
- Chlamydochaera
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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